Devices and methods for all-optical processing and storage

ABSTRACT

In a preferred embodiment, an integrated optical gate matrix, that includes a set of nonlinear elements and waveguides interconnecting at least some nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements, may be configured to enable optical processing. A first subset of the set of nonlinear elements is preferably configured to function as a set of ON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state to enable a second subset of the set of nonlinear elements to be configured in at least one optical processing configuration. Configuration of the second subset of the set of nonlinear elements may be used for various optical processing operations, such as all-optical 2R or 3R regeneration, wavelength conversion, data format conversion, demultiplexing, clock recovery, logic operations and dispersion compensation. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/619,413, filed Jul. 16, 2003.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to optical processing andstorage and applications thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As optical communication evolves, a greater need is experienced foroptical processing devices with all-optical processing functionality andall-optical storage capabilities for various optical communicationapplications such as optical switching. Although elements that enablesimple optical processing operations such as wavelength conversion anddemultiplexing exist today, further developments are required, forexample, to enable programmability of all-optical processing operationsand performance of integrated operations.

Elements for all-optical processing are described in the followingpublications:

an article entitled “Semiconductor Optical Amplifier-Based All-OpticalGates for High-Speed Optical Processing”, by Kristian E. Stubkjaer inIEEE Journal on Selected Tonics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 6, No. 6,November/December 2000, pages 1428-1435;

an article entitled “80 Gbit/s all-optical regenerative wavelengthconversion using semiconductor optical amplifier based interferometer”,by Kelly et al in Electronics Letters, Vol. 35, No. 17, 19 Aug. 1999,pages 1477-1478;

an article entitled “Demultiplexing of 168-Gb/s Data Pulses with aHybrid-Integrated Symmetric Mach-Zehnder All-Optical Switch”, byNakamura et al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 4,April 2000, pages 425-427;

an article entitled “All-Optical 2R Regeneration Based on PolarizationRotation in a Linear Optical Amplifier”, by Zhao et al in IEEE PhotonicsTechnology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2003, pages 305-307;

an article entitled “All-Optical Data Format Conversion Between RZ andNRZ Based on a Mach-Zehnder Interferometric Wavelength Converter”, by Xuet al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 2, February2003, pages 308-310;

an article entitled “All-optical wavelength converter scheme for highspeed RZ signal formats”, by Mikkelsen et al in Electronics Letters,Vol. 33, No. 25, 4 Dec. 1997, pages 2137-2139;

an article entitled “Penalty-Free Error-Free All-Optical Data PulseRegeneration at 84 Gb/s by Using a Symmetric-Mach-Zehnder-TypeSemiconductor Regenerator”, by Ueno et al in IEEE Photonics TechnologyLetters, Vol. 13, No. 5, May 2001, pages 469-471;

an article entitled “All-optical switching for high bandwidth opticalnetworks”, by M. J. Potasek in Optical Networks Magazine,November/December 2002, pages 30-43;

an article entitled “40-Gb/s All-Optical Wavelength Conversion,Regeneration, and Demultiplexing in an SOA-Based All-Active Mach-ZehnderInterferometer”, by Wolfson et al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters,Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2000, pages 332-334;

an article entitled “Compensation fibre chromatic dispersion by opticalphase conjugation in a semiconductor laser amplifier”, by Tatham et alin Electronics Letters, Vol. 29, No. 21, 14 Oct. 1993, pages 1851-1852;

an article entitled “All-Optical 2R Regeneration of 40-Gb/s SignalImpaired by Intrachannel Four-Wave Mixing”, by Su et al in IEEEPhotonics Technology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2003, pages350-352;

an article entitled “1-Tb/s 16-b All-Optical Serial-to-ParallelConversion Using a Surface-Reflection Optical Switch”, by Takahashi etal in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2003,pages 287-289; and

an article entitled “Wavelength Switching Components for Future PhotonicNetworks”, by White et al in IEEE Communications Magazine, September2002, pages 74-81.

All-optical storage is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/152,289 of Handelman, now published as Pub. No. US 2004/0208418, andentitled “Apparatus and Method for Delaying Optical Signals for OpticalBuffering and Optical Storage Applications”. All-optical storage is alsodescribed in an article entitled “Variable optical delay circuit usingwavelength converters”, by Sakamoto et al in Electronics Letters, Vol.37, No. 7, 29 Mar. 2001, pages 454-455.

Some aspects of technologies and related art that may be useful inunderstanding the present invention are described in the followingpublications:

an article entitled “Ultrafast (200-fs Switching, 1.5-Tb/sDemultiplexing) and High-Repetition (10 GHz) Operations of aPolarization-Discriminating Symmetric Mach-Zehnder All-Optical Switch”,by Nakamura et al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 10, No. 11,November 1998, pages 1575-1577;

an article entitled “Ultrafast high-contrast all-optical switching usingspin polarization in low-temperature-grown multiple quantum wells”, byTakahashi et al in Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 77, No. 19, 6 Nov.2000, pages 2958-2960;

an article entitled “Compensation for channel dispersion by nonlinearoptical phase conjugation”, by Yariv et al in Optics Letters, Vol. 4,No. 2, February 1979, pages 52-54;

an article entitled “Architecture of Ultrafast Optical Packet SwitchingRing Network”, by Takada et al in Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol.20, No. 12, December 2002, pages 2306-2315;

an article entitled “Monolithically Integrated 2×2 InGaAsP/InP LaserAmplifier Gate Switch Arrays”, by Janson et al in Electronics Letters,Vol. 28, No. 8, 9 Apr. 1992, pages 776-778;

an article entitled “Monolithically Integrated 4×4 InGaAsP/InP LaserAmplifier Gate Switch Arrays”, by Gustavsson et al in ElectronicsLetters, Vol. 28, No. 24, 19 Nov. 1992, pages 2223-2225;

an article entitled “All-Optical Triode Based on a Tandem WavelengthConverter Using Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers”, by Maedaet al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 2, February2003, pages 257-259;

an article entitled “160-Gb/s Optical-Time-Division Multiplexing WithPPLN Hybrid Integrated Planar Lightwave Circuit”, by Ohara et al in IEEEPhotonics Technology Letters, Vol. 15, No. 2, February 2003, pages302-304;

an article entitled “Low-temperature-grown surface-reflectionall-optical switch (LOTOS)”, by Ryo Takahashi in Optical and QuantumElectronics, Vol. 33, 2001, pages 999-1017;

an article entitled “Ultrafast 168 GHz 1.5 ps 1 fJSymmetric-Mach-Zehnder-Type All-Optical Semiconductor Switch”, by Uenoet al in Japan Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 39 (2000) pagesL806-L808, Part 2, No. 8A, 1 Aug. 2000;

an article entitled “Semiconductor Arrayed Waveguide Gratings forPhotonic Integrated Devices”, by Yuzo Yoshikuni in IEEE Journal onSelected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 8, No. 6, November/December2002, pages 1102-1114;

an article entitled “N×N Arrayed Waveguide Gratings With ImprovedFrequency Accuracy”, by Bernasconi et al in IEEE Journal on SelectedTopics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 8, No. 6, November/December 2002,pages 1115-1121;

an article entitled “The New Indelible Memories”, by Linda Geppert inIEEE Spectrum, March 2003, pages 49-54;

an article entitled “Integration of waveguide devices aims to reducecosts”, by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, September 2002, pages113-117;

an article entitled “Band architecture improves performance”, byMarshall et al in Laser Focus World, September 2002, pages S7-S10;

an article entitled “Optical information processing awaitsoptoelectronic devices”, by Francis Yu in Laser Focus World, September2002, pages 71-74;

an article entitled “Monolithic Integration of a Semiconductor OpticalAmplifier and a High Bandwidth p-i-n Photodiode Using AsymmetricTwin-Waveguide Technology”, by Xia et al in IEEE Photonics TechnologyLetters, Vol. 15, No. 3, March 2003, pages 452-454;

an article entitled “Architectural and Technological Issues for FutureOptical Internet Networks”, by Listanti et al in IEEE CommunicationsMagazine, September 2000, pages 82-92;

an article entitled “IP over Optical Networks: Architectural Aspects”,by Rajagopalan et al in IEEE Communications Magazine, September 2000,pages 94-102;

an article entitled “Labeled Optical Burst Switching for IP-over-WDMIntegration”, by Chunming Qiao in IEEE Communications Magazine,September 2000, pages 104-114;

an article entitled “Approaches to Optical Internet Packet Switching”,by Hunter et al in IEEE Communications Magazine, September 2000, pages116-122;

an article entitled “A framework for unified traffic engineering in IPover WDM networks”, by Song et al in Optical Networks Magazine,November/December 2001, pages 28-33;

an article entitled “Optimization of wavelength allocation in WDMoptical buffers”, by Callegati et al in Optical Networks Magazine,November/December 2001, pages 66-72;

an article entitled “Mining the Optical Bandwidth for a Terabit perSecond”, by Alan Eli Willner in IEEE Spectrum, April 1997, pages 32-41;

an article entitled “Variable optical delay line withdiffraction-limited autoalignment” by Klovekorn et al in Applied Optics,Vol. 37, No. 10, Apr. 1, 1998, pages 1903-1904;

an article entitled “Picosecond-Accuracy All-Optical Bit Phase SensingUsing a Nonlinear Optical Loop Mirror”, by Hall et al in IEEE PhotonicsTechnology Letters, Vol. 7, No. 8, August 1995, pages 935-937;

an article entitled “An Ultrafast Variable Optical Delay Technique”, byHall et al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2,February 2000, pages 208-210;

an article entitled “Design and Cost Performance of the MultistageWDM-PON Access Networks”, by Maier et al in Journal of LightwaveTechnology, Vol. 18, No. 2, February 2000, pages 125-143;

an article entitled “Multistage Amplifier Provides Gain Across 80 nm”,by Kristin Lewotsky in Laser Focus World, September 1997, pages 22-24;

a conference review entitled “Optical amplifiers revolutionizecommunications”, by Gary T. Forrest in Laser Focus World, September1998, pages 28-32;

an article entitled “Optical Networks Seek Reconfigurable Add/DropOptions”, by Hector E. Escobar in Photonics Spectra, December 1998,pages 163-167;

an article entitled “Multiple Wavelengths Exploit Fiber Capacity”, byEric J. Lerner in Laser Focus World, July 1997, pages 119-125;

an article entitled “Advances in Dense WDM Push Diode-Laser Design”, byDiana Zankowsky in Laser Focus World, August 1997, pages 167-171;

an article entitled “Optical switching promises cure fortelecommunications logjam”, by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World,September 1998, pages 69-72;

an article entitled “Speed Demons: Is ‘Faster’ Better and Cheaper?”, byStephanie A. Weiss in Photonics Spectra, February 1999, pages 96-102;

an article entitled “Wavelength Lockers Keep Lasers in Line”, by EdMiskovic in Photonics Spectra, February 1999, pages 104-110;

an article entitled “Multigigabit Networks: The Challenge”, by Rollandet al in IEEE LTS, May 1992, pages 16-26;

an article entitled “Direct Detection Lightwave Systems: Why Pay More?”,by Green et al in IEEE LCS, November 1990, pages 36-49;

an article entitled “Photonics in Switching”, by H. Scott Hinton in IEEELTS, August 1992, pages 26-35;

an article entitled “Fiber amplifiers expand network capacities”, byEric J. Lerner in Laser Focus World, August 1997, pages 85-96;

an article entitled “Technologies for Local-Access Fibering”, by YukouMochida in IEEE Communications Magazine, February 1994, pages 64-73;

an article entitled “Wavelength-Division Switching Technology inPhotonic Switching Systems”, by Suzuki et al in IEEE InternationalConference on Communications ICC '90, pages 1125-1129;

an article entitled “Wavelength Assignment in Multihop LightwaveNetworks”, by Ganz et al in IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol.42, No. 7, July 1994, pages 2460-2469;

an article entitled “Branch-Exchange Sequences for Reconfiguration ofLightwave Networks”, by Labourdette et al in IEEE Transactions onCommunications, Vol. 42, No. 10, October 1994, pages 2822-2832;

an article entitled “Use of Delegated Tuning and Forwarding inWavelength Division Multiple Access Networks”, by Auerbach et al in IEEETransactions on Communications, Vol. 43, No. 1, January 1995, pages52-63;

an article entitled “Photonic Switches: Fast, but Functional?”, byDaniel C. McCarthy in Photonics Spectra, March 2001, pages 140-150;

an article entitled “Combining gratings and filters reduces WDM channelspacing”, by Pan et al in Optoelectronics World, September 1998, pagesS11-S17;

an article entitled “100-Gbit/s bitwise logic”, by Hall et al in OpticsLetters, Vol. 23, No. 16, Aug. 15, 1998, pages 1271-1273;

an article entitled “Analysis and Dimensioning of Switchless Networksfor Single-Layer Optical Architecture”, by Binetti et al in Journal ofLightwave Technology, Vol. 18, No. 2, February 2000, pages 144-153;

an article entitled “Fiber-based components meet the needs ofnext-generation amplifiers”, by Stephane Bourgeois in WDM Solutions,March 2001, pages 67-74;

an article entitled “Keep Your Photons in Line”, by Wesson et al inPhotonics Spectra, September 1999, pages 102-108;

an article entitled “Photons At Work: Optical Networks On The Rise”, byLee Goldberg in Electronic Design, Mar. 22, 1999, pages 56-66;

an article entitled “Photonic packet switching and optical labelswapping”, by Daniel J. Blumenthal in Optical Networks Magazine,November/December 2001, pages 54-65;

an article entitled “On a dynamic wavelength assignment algorithm forwavelength routed all-optical networks”, by Stoica et al in OpticalNetworks Magazine, January/February 2002, pages 68-80;

an article entitled “Crystal slows and stops light”, by John Wallace inLaser Focus World, February 2002, Vol. 38, No. 2, pages 36-37;

an article entitled “Decision feedback loop compensates at 10 Gbit/s”,by Hassaun Jones-Bey in Laser Focus World, May 2000, pages 65-67;

an article entitled “100-km Negative-Dispersion Fiber carries 10 Gb/s”,by Richard Gaughan in Photonics Spectra, November 2001, page 42;

an article entitled “Managing Polarization Mode Dispersion”, by MichelW. Chbat in Photonics Spectra, June 2000, pages 100-104;

an item entitled “Alcatel Displays 1.6-Tb/s Transmission” in thePresstime Bulletin section in Photonics Spectra, December 2001, page 18;

an article entitled “Dynamic Dispersion Compensation: When and WhereWill It Be Needed?”, by Lisa Huff and Christine Mulrooney in PhotonicsSpectra, December 2001, pages 122-125;

an article entitled “Dispersion management is vital for high-speedsystems”, by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, July 2001, pages 79-87;

an article entitled “Tunable compensators master chromatic-dispersionimpairments”, by Alan Willner in WDM Solutions, July 2001, pages 51-58;

an article entitled “Dispersion Compensation Gratings for the C-Band”,by James F. Brennan III in Photonics Spectra, June 2001, pages 159-165;

a newsbreak item entitled “Hot rubidium slows light speed to 90 m/s”, inLaser Focus World, August 1999, page 11;

a newsbreak item entitled “Network demonstrates 1500-km unregeneratedtransmission at 40 Gbits/s”, in Laser Focus World, July 2001, page 11;

an article entitled “Electroholographic switches are fast and compact”,by Aharon J. Agranat in Laser Focus World, May 2001, pages 109-112;

a newsbreak item entitled “Switch based on SOA achieves femtosecondswitching”, in Laser Focus World, September 2001, page 9;

an article entitled “Next-generation networks may benefit from SOAs”, byMartin Young in Laser Focus World, September 2001, pages 73-79;

an article entitled “All-optical converters promise improved networks”,by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, April 2001, pages 159-164;

an article entitled “Novel VOAs provide more speed and utility”, byStephen Cohen in Laser Focus World, November 2000, pages 139-146;

an article entitled “Array-based VOAs offer compact signal control”, byNigel Cockroft in WDM Solutions, June 2001, pages 81-86;

an article entitled “Polarization Insensitive Widely Tunable All-OpticalClock Recovery Based on AM Mode-Locking of a Fiber Ring Laser”, by Wanget al in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February2000, pages 211-213;

an article entitled “Ultra-High-Speed PLL-Type Clock Recovery CircuitBased on All-Optical Gain Modulation in Traveling-Wave Laser DiodeAmplifier”, by Kawanishi et al in Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol.11, No. 12, December 1993, pages 2123-2129;

an article entitled “Prescaled 6.3 GHz clock recovery from 50 GBit/s TDMoptical signal with 50 GHz PLL using four-wave mixing in atraveling-wave laser diode optical amplifier”, by Kamatani et al inElectronics Letters, Vol. 30, No. 10, May 12, 1994, pages 807-809;

an article entitled “Compact 40 Gbit/s optical demultiplexer using aGaInAsP optical amplifier”, by Ellis et al in Electronics Letters, Vol.29, No. 24, Nov. 25, 1993, pages 2115-2116;

an article entitled “Bit-Rate Flexible All-Optical Demultiplexing Usinga Nonlinear Optical Loop Mirror”, by Patrick et al in ElectronicsLetters, Vol. 29, No. 8, Apr. 15, 1993, pages 702-703;

an article entitled “All-Optical High Speed Demultiplexing with aSemiconductor Laser Amplifier in a loop Mirror Configuration”, by Eiseltet al in Electronics Letters, Vol. 29, No. 13, Jun. 24, 1993, pages1167-1168;

a technology brief entitled “Lucent Upgrades Wavestar to 320-Channel,800-Gb/s Transmission”, in Photonics Spectra, June 2000, page 46;

an article entitled “All-optical networks need optical switches”, byJeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, May 2000, pages 189-196;

an article entitled “Record data-transmission rate reported at ECOC'96”, by Paul Mortensen in Laser Focus World, November 1996, pages40-42;

an article entitled “WDM Local Area Networks”, by Kazovsky et al in IEEELTS, May 1992, pages 8-15;

an article entitled “Optical Switches Ease Bandwidth Crunch”, by RienFlipse in EuroPhotonics, August/September 1998, pages 44-45;

an article entitled “Optical switches pursue crossconnect markets”, byHassaun Jones-Bay in Laser Focus World, May 1998, pages 153-162;

an article entitled “Data express Gigabit junction with thenext-generation Internet”, by Collins et al in IEEE Spectrum, February1999, pages 18-25;

an article entitled “Advanced Technology for Fiber Optic SubscriberSystems”, by Toba et al in IEEE LTS, November 1992, pages 12-18;

an article entitled “Demand triggers advances in dense WDM components”,by Raymond Nering in Optoelectronics World, September 1998, pages S5-S8;

an article entitled “Ultrafast Optical Switch Unveiled”, by Michael D.Wheeler in Photonics Spectra, December 1998, page 42;

an article entitled “Designing Broadband Fiber Optic CommunicationSystems”, by Juan F. Lam in Communication Systems Design magazine,February 1999, pages 1-4 at http://www.csdmag.com;

an article entitled “Terabit/second-transmission demonstrations make asplash at OFC '96”, in Laser Focus World, April 1996, page 13;

an article entitled “A Simple Dynamic Integrated Provisioning/ProtectionScheme in IP Over WDM Networks”, by Ye et al in IEEE CommunicationsMagazine, November 2001, pages 174-182;

an article entitled “XOR: A Logical Choice for All-Optical Networks”, byPerry J. Greenbaum in Photonics Spectra, November 2001, pages 30-31; and

The following chapters in The Communications Handbook, CRC Press & IEEEPress, 1997, Editor-in-Chief Jerry D. Gibson: Chapter 37 on pages513-528; Chapter 39 on pages 542-553; Chapter 40 on pages 554-564;Chapter 46 on pages 622-649; Chapter 51 on pages 686-700; Chapter 61 onpages 832-847; and Chapter 65 on pages 883-890.

Additional aspects of technologies that may be useful in understandingthe present invention are described in the following patent applicationsand patents:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/624,983 of Handelman, now U.S. Pat.No. 6,763,191, that describes an optical switching apparatus thatselectively combines and separates series of optical signal samplesusing OTDM and/or WDM;

Published US Patent application Pub. No. US 2002/0048067 A1 of Handelmanet al that describes an optical switching apparatus that selectivelycombines and separates, using OTDM and/or WDM, optical signal samplesthat are obtained by a spread spectrum technique or a combination ofoptical signal samples that are obtained by a spread spectrum techniqueand optical signal samples that are carried over discrete channelwavelengths;

Published US patent application Pub. No. US 2003/0048506 A1 of Handelmanthat describes an optical packet switch that switches optical packetsaccording to bit-rates at which the optical packets are provided;

Published US patent application Pub. No. US 2003/0043430 A1 of Handelmanthat describes an optical packet switch in which NW wavelengths, overwhich inputted optical packets may be switched, are grouped into KGgroups of wavelengths, where the KG groups of wavelengths arecharacterized in that each of the KG groups of wavelengths is allocatedto optical packets distinguished from other optical packets by at leastone attribute of at least one packet characteristic, and each oneinputted optical packet is switched over a wavelength having anavailable transmission resource selected from among wavelengths in oneof the KG groups of wavelengths that is matched to the one inputtedoptical packet by correspondence of attributes of the at least onepacket characteristic; and

The following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,626,075; 4,726,010; 5,170,273;5,191,457; 5,194,977; 5,319,484; 5,325,222; 5,416,625; 5,452,115;5,457,687; 5,557,439; 5,680,490; 5,712,932; 5,724,167; 5,739,935;5,774,244; 5,867,289; 5,953,138; 6,023,360; 6,108,112; 6,204,944;6,233,082; 6,288,808; 6,314,115; 6,404,522; and 6,574,018.

The disclosures of all references mentioned above and throughout thepresent specification are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide devices and methods forall-optical processing and all-optical storage with improvedfunctionality and capabilities, particularly, but not only, in terms ofconfigurability, programmability of all-optical processing operations,performance of integrated operations, dense all-optical storage, andusage of all-optical storage.

Further objects and features of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following description andthe accompanying drawings.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a configurable integrated optical gate matrixincluding a set of nonlinear elements in which a first subset of the setof nonlinear elements is configured to function as a set of ON/OFFswitches in the “OFF” state to enable a second subset of the set ofnonlinear elements to be configured in at least one optical processingconfiguration, and a plurality of waveguides interconnecting at leastsome nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements.

Preferably, the set of nonlinear elements is arranged essentially in aparallelogram matrix or a plurality of parallelogram matrices.

The set of nonlinear elements preferably includes nonlinear elementsbased on at least one of the following: semiconductor optical amplifiers(SOAs), waveguide devices, and electro-optic nonlinear materials.

Preferably, the at least one optical processing configuration includesat least one of the following configurations: a configuration forall-optical 2R regeneration, a configuration for all-optical 3Rregeneration, a configuration for wavelength conversion, a configurationfor data format conversion, a configuration for demultiplexing, aconfiguration for clock recovery, a configuration for a logic operation,and a configuration for dispersion compensation.

The at least one optical processing configuration is preferablyimplemented by at least one of the following configurations: at leastone interferometric configuration, at least one configuration thatenables cross gain modulation (XGM), at least one configuration thatenables four-wave mixing (FWM), and a combination of at least two of thefollowing: at least one interferometric configuration, at least oneconfiguration that enables XGM, and at least one configuration thatenables FWM. The at least one interferometric configuration preferablyincludes at least one of the following: a Mach Zehnder interferometric(MZI) configuration, a Michelson interferometric (MI) configuration, anda delayed interference configuration.

The second subset of the set of nonlinear elements may preferablyinclude nonlinear element configurations outputting at least someoptical signals in essentially opposite directions.

The optical gate matrix additionally includes a controller and driverinterface operatively associated with the set of nonlinear elements andoperative to provide an interface to a controller and driver forenabling programmable selection by the controller and driver of at leastone of the following: a number of nonlinear elements in the firstsubset, a number of nonlinear elements in the second subset, adistribution of the nonlinear elements in the first subset, and adistribution of the nonlinear elements in the second subset.

Still additionally, the optical gate matrix also includes input/output(I/O) ports operative to direct light into and/or out of at least somenonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements. Furtheradditionally, the optical gate matrix also includes optical filtersoperative to direct light at selective wavelengths into and/or out of atleast some nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements.

The configurable integrated optical gate matrix may preferably becomprised in an optical processing unit (OPU).

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a photonic device for selectively performing on aninput optical signal an optical processing operation and a switchingoperation, the photonic device including a first nonlinear element, anda set of nonlinear elements including a second nonlinear element and notincluding the first nonlinear element, the set of nonlinear elementsbeing configured in an optical processing configuration, wherein thephotonic device is controlled to enable performance of the opticalprocessing operation on the input optical signal by the set of nonlinearelements to output an optical processing result to a first output routewhen the second nonlinear element is turned to an “ON” state and thefirst nonlinear element is turned to an “OFF” state, and to switch theinput optical signal to a second output route by turning the firstnonlinear element to an “ON” state when the second nonlinear element isturned to an “OFF” state.

The optical processing operation preferably includes at least one of thefollowing: all-optical 2R regeneration, all-optical 3R regeneration,wavelength conversion, data format conversion, demultiplexing, clockrecovery, a logic operation, and dispersion compensation.

Preferably, each of the first nonlinear element, the second nonlinearelement and the set of nonlinear elements includes a nonlinear elementbased on at least one of the following: SOAs, waveguide devices, andelectro-optic nonlinear materials.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention there is provided a memory unit for storing opticalinformation, the memory unit including a controller operative todetermine whether the optical information is to be stored for a timeperiod exceeding a threshold or for a time period not exceeding thethreshold, an all-optical flash memory device operatively associatedwith the controller and operative to perform all-optical flash storageof the optical information for the time period not exceeding thethreshold, and an information storage element operatively associatedwith the all-optical flash memory device and the controller andoperative, if the optical information is to be stored for the timeperiod exceeding the threshold, to receive the optical information fromthe all-optical flash memory device, and to store a representation ofthe optical information in a form suitable for storage in theinformation storage element for an additional time period to reach thetime period exceeding the threshold.

The information storage element preferably includes at least one of thefollowing storage media: a magnetic memory media, an electronic memorymedia, a magneto-optic memory media, a ferroelectric memory media, amagnetoresistive memory media, an Ovonic Unified Memory (OUM) media, acompact-disc (CD) media, and a digital versatile disc (DVD) media.

Additionally, the memory unit includes a driver operatively controlledby the controller, and an optical interface operatively associated withthe driver, the controller and the all-optical flash memory device andcapable of converting the optical information into the form suitable forstorage in the information storage element and vice versa. The opticalinterface preferably includes an optical transceiver.

There is also provided in accordance with a further preferred embodimentof the present invention an all-optical memory device for storing anoptical signal representing optical information, the device including anoptical compactor operative to optically compact the optical signalthereby providing a compacted optical signal, and an optical memory cell(OMC) operatively associated with the optical compactor and operative tostore the compacted optical signal for a period of time.

Preferably, the optical signal includes a multiplicity of bits and theoptical compactor includes a first coupler/decoupler operative toreceive the optical signal and to output NF pattern replicas of theoptical signal, where NF is an integer greater than one, NF opticalgates operatively associated with the first coupler/decoupler, each ofthe NF optical gates being time-delay controlled to output chopped bitsof a respective one of the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal ata different time window, and a second coupler/decoupler operativelyassociated with the NF optical gates and the OMC and operative tocombine the chopped bits corresponding to the NF pattern replicas of theoptical signal thereby forming the compacted optical signal, and toprovide the compacted optical signal to the OMC.

The all-optical memory device also preferably includes an opticalexpander operatively associated with the OMC and operative to expand thecompacted optical signal on retrieval from the OMC thereby restoring theoptical signal.

In accordance with yet a further preferred embodiment of the presentinvention there is provided an all-optical memory device for storage andretrieval of LK optical signals respectively carried over LK separatecarrier wavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) where LK is an integer greaterthan one, the device including a first set of LK optical regenerationgates, each optical regeneration gate in the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates being operative to receive a respective one of the LKoptical signals and an optical-clock (OC) signal at a wavelength λ_(OC),and time-delay controlled to output chopped bits of the respective oneof the LK optical signals over λ_(OC) at a different time window, acoupler operatively associated with the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates and operative to combine the chopped bitscorresponding to the LK optical signals to form a compacted opticalsignal representing a combination of the LK optical signals in acompacted form, and an OMC operatively associated with the coupler andoperative to store the compacted optical signal for a period of time.

Additionally, the all-optical memory device includes a decoupleroperatively associated with the OMC and operative to decouple thecompacted optical signal, upon retrieval from the OMC, into LK patternreplicas of the compacted optical signal that are each carried over awavelength λ_(OUT), and a second set of LK optical regeneration gatesoperatively associated with the decoupler, the LK optical regenerationgates in the second set of LK optical regeneration gates being operativeto receive the LK pattern replicas of the compacted optical signal andLK optical-clock signals carried over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) and toregenerate the LK optical signals over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK).

Preferably, λ′₁=λ₁, . . . , λ′_(LK)=λ_(LK) and λ_(OUT)=λ_(OC).

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for configuring a configurable integratedoptical gate matrix that includes a set of nonlinear elements, themethod including configuring a first subset of the set of nonlinearelements to function as a set of ON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state toenable a second subset of the set of nonlinear elements to be configuredin at least one optical processing configuration.

Additionally, the method also includes the step of configuring thesecond subset of the set of nonlinear elements in the at least oneoptical processing configuration.

Further additionally, the method also includes the step of programmablyselecting at least one of the following: a number of nonlinear elementsin the first subset, a number of nonlinear elements in the secondsubset, a distribution of the nonlinear elements in the first subset,and a distribution of the nonlinear elements in the second subset.

The at least one optical processing configuration preferably includes atleast one of the following configurations: a configuration forall-optical 2R regeneration, a configuration for all-optical 3Rregeneration, a configuration for wavelength conversion, a configurationfor data format conversion, a configuration for demultiplexing, aconfiguration for clock recovery, a configuration for a logic operation,and a configuration for dispersion compensation.

In accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the presentinvention there is provided a method for selectively performing on aninput optical signal an optical processing operation and a switchingoperation, the method including providing a first nonlinear element, anda set of nonlinear elements including a second nonlinear element and notincluding the first nonlinear element, configuring the set of nonlinearelements in an optical processing configuration, and enablingperformance of the optical processing operation on the input opticalsignal by the set of nonlinear elements to output an optical processingresult to a first output route when the second nonlinear element isturned to an “ON” state and the first nonlinear element is turned to an“OFF” state, and switching the input optical signal to a second outputroute by turning the first nonlinear element to an “ON” state when thesecond nonlinear element is turned to an “OFF” state.

Preferably, the optical processing operation includes at least one ofthe following: all-optical 2R regeneration, all-optical 3R regeneration,wavelength conversion, data format conversion, demultiplexing, clockrecovery, a logic operation, and dispersion compensation.

Yet further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention there is provided a method for storing optical information,the method including determining whether the optical information is tobe stored for a time period exceeding a threshold or for a time periodnot exceeding the threshold, performing all-optical flash storage of theoptical information in an all-optical flash memory device for the timeperiod not exceeding the threshold, and, if the optical information isto be stored for the time period exceeding the threshold, receiving theoptical information from the all-optical flash memory device, andstoring a representation of the optical information in an informationstorage element in a form suitable for storage in the informationstorage element for an additional time period to reach the time periodexceeding the threshold.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for optically storing an optical signalrepresenting optical information, the method including opticallycompacting the optical signal thereby providing a compacted opticalsignal, and optically storing the compacted optical signal for a periodof time.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention there is provided a method for optically compacting an opticalsignal including a multiplicity of bits, the method includingreplicating the optical signal to obtain NF pattern replicas of theoptical signal, where NF is an integer greater than one, generating,from each of the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal, chopped bitsat a different time window, and combining the chopped bits correspondingto the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal thereby forming acompacted optical signal representing the optical signal in a compactedform.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention there is provided a method for enabling optical storage andretrieval of LK optical signals respectively carried over LK separatecarrier wavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) where LK is an integer greaterthan one, the method including generating, from each of the LK opticalsignals and an OC signal at a wavelength λ_(OC), chopped bits overλ_(OC) at a different time window, and combining the chopped bitscorresponding to the LK optical signals to form a compacted opticalsignal representing a combination of the LK optical signals in acompacted form for storing the compacted optical signal for a period oftime.

Additionally, the method also includes decoupling the compacted opticalsignal upon retrieval into LK pattern replicas of the compacted opticalsignal that are each carried over a wavelength λ_(OUT), and regeneratingthe LK optical signals over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) from the LK patternreplicas of the compacted optical signal and LK optical-clock signalscarried over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified partly pictorial partly block diagramillustration of a preferred implementation of a configurable integratedoptical gate matrix, the optical gate matrix being constructed andoperative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified partly pictorial partly block diagramillustration of a preferred implementation of a photonic device that maybe usable in configurations of the optical gate matrix of FIG. 1, thephotonic device being constructed and operative in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustration of a preferredimplementation of a memory unit usable with the optical gate matrix ofFIG. 1 and the photonic device of FIG. 2, the memory unit beingconstructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified partly pictorial partly block diagramillustration of a preferred implementation of an all-optical memorydevice usable in the memory unit of FIG. 3, the all-optical memorydevice being constructed and operative in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram illustration of another preferredimplementation of an all-optical memory device usable in the memory unitof FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a preferred method ofoperation of the optical gate matrix of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a preferred method ofoperation of the photonic device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a preferred method ofoperation of the memory unit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a preferred method ofoperation of the all-optical memory device of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a preferred method ofoperation of an optical compactor in the all-optical memory device ofFIG. 4; and

FIG. 11 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a preferred method ofoperation of the all-optical memory device of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which is a simplified partly pictorialpartly block diagram illustration of a preferred implementation of aconfigurable integrated optical gate matrix 10, the optical gate matrix10 being constructed and operative in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. The optical gate matrix 10 may, forexample and without limiting the generality of the description, becomprised in an optical processing unit (OPU) (not shown) that mayperform one or more optical processing operations.

The term “optical processing operation” is used throughout thespecification and claims to include at least one of the followingoperations: all-optical 2R regeneration; all-optical 3R regeneration;wavelength conversion; data format conversion; demultiplexing; clockrecovery; a logic operation; and dispersion compensation. The term“optical processing operation” may alternatively or additionally includeother operations that involve optical processing. The term “2Rregeneration” is used throughout the specification and claims to includere-amplifying and reshaping of a data pulse. The term “3R regeneration”is used throughout the specification and claims to includere-amplifying, reshaping and re-timing of a data pulse.

The optical gate matrix 10 preferably includes a set of nonlinearelements 20 and a plurality of waveguides 30 interconnecting at leastsome nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements 20. Preferably,the set of nonlinear elements 20 is arranged essentially in aparallelogram matrix or a plurality of parallelogram matrices.Alternatively, the set of nonlinear elements 20 may be arranged in anyother appropriate arrangement, such as a rectangular arrangement (notshown) in which the set of nonlinear elements 20 is confined in arectangle and at least some nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinearelements 20 are horizontally tilted with respect to the rectangle sides.

The term “nonlinear element” is used throughout the specification andclaims to include an element having nonlinear properties or an elementin which at least one nonlinear phenomenon may occur. The term“nonlinear element” is not limited to elements having only nonlinearproperties or elements in which only nonlinear phenomena may occur.Rather, the term “nonlinear element” also refers to elements that mayhave linear properties in addition to nonlinear properties, and toelements in which linear phenomena may occur in addition to nonlinearphenomena. A nonlinear element based on semiconductor optical amplifiers(SOAs) which is well known in the art is one appropriate example of anonlinear element. Other appropriate examples of nonlinear elementsinclude nonlinear elements based on waveguide devices and nonlinearelements based on electro-optic nonlinear materials, such as lithiumniobate.

By way of example, the set of nonlinear elements 20 in FIG. 1 includesnonlinear elements based on SOAs, but such example is not to beconsidered as limiting. Further by way of example which is not to beconsidered as limiting, the set of nonlinear elements 20 in FIG. 1includes thirty elements, and the thirty elements are SOAs indicatedSOA1, . . . , SOA30 and arranged in two parallelograms indicated byreference numerals 40 and 50. By way of example, each of theparallelograms 40 and 50 includes fifteen SOAs. In the example depictedin FIG. 1 there are no waveguides 30 that connect nonlinear elements inthe parallelogram 40 to nonlinear elements in the parallelogram 50 andthe parallelograms 40 and 50 are therefore isolated from each other. Itis however appreciated that the parallelograms 40 and 50 mayalternatively be non-isolated.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, afirst subset 60 of the set of nonlinear elements 20 is configured tofunction as a set of ON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state to enable asecond subset 70 of the set of nonlinear elements 20 to be configured inat least one optical processing configuration. The second subset 70 ofthe set of nonlinear elements 20 may then preferably be configured inthe at least one optical processing configuration.

The at least one optical processing configuration preferably includes atleast one of the following configurations: a configuration forall-optical 2R regeneration; a configuration for all-optical 3Rregeneration; a configuration for wavelength conversion; a configurationfor data format conversion; a configuration for demultiplexing; aconfiguration for clock recovery; a configuration for a logic operation;and a configuration for dispersion compensation. It is appreciated thatthe configuration for data format conversion may include, for example, aconfiguration for all-optical data format conversion betweenreturn-to-zero (RZ) and non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data formats.

Preferably, the at least one optical processing configuration isimplemented by at least one of the following configurations: at leastone interferometric configuration; at least one configuration thatenables cross gain modulation (XGM); at least one configuration thatenables four-wave mixing (FWM); and a combination of at least two of thefollowing: at least one interferometric configuration; at least oneconfiguration that enables XGM; and at least one configuration thatenables FWM. The at least one interferometric configuration preferablyincludes at least one of the following: a Mach Zehnder interferometric(MZI) configuration; a Michelson interferometric (MI) configuration; anda delayed interference configuration.

The optical gate matrix 10 may also preferably include a controller anddriver interface 80 that is operatively associated with the set ofnonlinear elements 20. For simplicity of depiction, the controller anddriver interface 80 is shown in FIG. 1 to be associated with only somenonlinear elements 20, but it is appreciated that the controller anddriver interface 80 may preferably be associated with all of thenonlinear elements 20. The controller and driver interface 80 may, forexample, include conventional electrical circuitry (not shown) that maybe operatively associated with each of the nonlinear elements 20 andoperative to provide an electrical interface to an external controllerand driver (not shown). It is appreciated that the electrical interfaceprovided by the controller and driver interface 80 may also be suitablefor interfacing other appropriate external electrical/electronic devicesand electrical power supply devices (not shown).

Preferably, the electrical interface provided by the controller anddriver interface 80 may be used as an interface for enablingprogrammable selection by the controller and driver of at least one ofthe following: a number of nonlinear elements in the first subset 60; anumber of nonlinear elements in the second subset 70; a distribution ofthe nonlinear elements in the first subset 60; and a distribution of thenonlinear elements in the second subset 70. The controller and drivermay also preferably control and drive, as necessary, any nonlinearelement in the set of nonlinear elements 20 via the controller anddriver interface 80. Driving of any nonlinear element in the set ofnonlinear elements 20 may include, for example, at least one of thefollowing: application of an appropriate bias voltage; feeding of acontinuous-wave (CW) signal; and feeding of a clock signal.

The optical gate matrix 10 may additionally include input/output (I/O)ports 90 that are operative to direct light into and/or out of at leastsome nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements 20. The I/Oports 90 may preferably be used for input or output of light signalsthat do not need optical filtering when inputted to or outputted fromthe optical gate matrix 10.

The optical gate matrix 10 may also preferably include optical filters100 that are operative to direct light at selective wavelengths intoand/or out of at least some nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinearelements 20. The optical filters 100 may preferably be used to filterlight signals that need optical filtering when inputted to or outputtedfrom the optical gate matrix 10. The selective wavelengths may, forexample, include distinct wavelengths, distinct wavelength bands, or acombination of distinct wavelengths and at least one wavelength band.

It is appreciated that the optical gate matrix 10 is programmable aswell as configurable. Programmability of the optical gate matrix 10 may,for example, be obtained through the programmable selection of thenumber and distribution of nonlinear elements in any of the subsets 60and 70 as mentioned above. Such programmable selection of the number anddistribution of nonlinear elements in any of the subsets 60 and 70 alsorenders the optical gate matrix 10 configurable because, for example, aspecific nonlinear element may, in different selections, belong todifferent ones of the subsets 60 and 70 and thus have differentfunctionality. Furthermore, the optical gate matrix 10 is programmableand configurable through different functionality of the nonlinearelements that may depend, for example, on an optical gate configurationin which the nonlinear elements participate.

The operation and usage of the optical gate matrix 10 is now brieflydescribed.

Preferably, the optical gate matrix 10 is used to perform a variety ofoptical processing operations separately or in combination. Once a setof required optical processing operations is determined, the firstsubset 60 and the second subset 70 may be selected and configured.

Preferably, the second subset 70 actually performs the set of requiredoptical processing operations through appropriate inter-configurationsof the nonlinear elements that are comprised in the second subset 70,where each inter-configuration of the second subset 70 enablesperformance of one or more optical processing operations. The firstsubset 60 preferably separates and/or isolates the inter-configurationsof the second subset 70 to prevent interference between theinter-configurations of the second subset 70 or to theinter-configurations of the second subset 70 thereby enabling properperformance of the optical processing operations by the second subset70. It is appreciated that appropriate inter-configurations of thenonlinear elements that are comprised in the first subset 60 arepreferably used for actual separation and/or isolation of theinter-configurations of the second subset 70.

Some non-limiting examples of selections and configurations of the firstsubset 60 and the second subset 70 that may be used to perform differentoptical processing operations are described herein below for nonlinearelements 20 in the parallelogram 40 only. It is however appreciated thatsimilar or different examples may be implemented in the parallelogram50.

In a first example, the first subset 60 is selected to include SOA7,SOA8 and SOA9 and the second subset 70 is selected to include SOA1, . .. , SOA6 and SOA10, . . . , SOA15. SOA7, SOA8 and SOA9 are preferablyconfigured to function as ON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state, forexample by not applying a bias voltage to SOA7, SOA8 and SOA9. It isappreciated that configuration of SOA7, SOA8 and SOA9 in the “OFF” stateisolates SOA1, . . . , SOA6 from SOA10, . . . , SOA15.

SOA1, . . . , SOA6 may then preferably be configured, for example in afirst inter-configuration that enables performance of a first opticalprocessing operation outputting a first output signal resulting from thefirst optical processing operation via SOA6. SOA10, . . . , SOA15 maypreferably be configured, for example in a second inter-configurationthat enables performance of a second optical processing operationoutputting a second output signal resulting from the second opticalprocessing operation via SOA15. Such configurations of the first subset60 and the second subset 70 thus enable performance of two separateoptical processing operations.

The first output signal and the second output signal are preferablyoutputted in essentially opposite directions. It is appreciated that thesecond subset 70 may also be configured to include other nonlinearelement configurations outputting at least some optical signals inessentially opposite directions.

The first inter-configuration and the second inter-configuration may,for example, be configurations for identical optical processingoperations to be performed, for example, on different input signals. Forexample, both the first and the second inter-configurations may be MZIinterferometric configurations for all-optical 2R regeneration as used,for example, in the above-mentioned article entitled “40-Gb/sAll-Optical Wavelength Conversion, Regeneration, and Demultiplexing inan SOA-Based All-Active Mach-Zehnder Interferometer”, by Wolfson et alin IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2000, pages332-334 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference. In such a case, all-optical 2R regeneration in the firstinter-configuration that results in the first output signal may beachieved by feeding a first input signal to SOA1, a delayed replica ofthe first input signal to SOA3, and a CW signal to SOA2. Similarly,all-optical 2R regeneration in the second inter-configuration thatresults in the second output signal may be achieved by feeding a secondinput signal to SOA10, a delayed replica of the second input signal toSOA12, and a CW signal to SOA11. It is appreciated that in the firstinter-configuration the first output signal is a 2R-regeneration of thefirst input signal, and in the second inter-configuration the secondoutput signal is a 2R-regeneration of the second input signal.

The first inter-configuration and the second inter-configuration mayalternatively be configurations for different optical processingoperations. For example, the first inter-configuration may be an MZIinterferometric configuration for all-optical 2R regeneration asdescribed above, and the second inter-configuration may be an MZIinterferometric configuration for all-optical 3R regeneration. Theall-optical 3R regeneration may be achieved similarly to all-optical 2Rregeneration except for using an optical-clock (OC) signal instead of aCW signal.

It is appreciated that usage of the first subset 60 in which SOA7, SOA8and SOA9 are maintained in the “OFF” state prevents interference betweenthe first inter-configuration and the second inter-configuration of thesecond subset 70. If, for example the first subset 60 would have notbeen used and SOA7, SOA8 and SOA9 would have each been maintained in the“ON” state, an input to SOA3 would have interfered with an input toSOA10 through SOA8. In such a case, the first inter-configuration andthe second inter-configuration of the second subset 70 would have notenabled proper performance of the optical processing operations.

Preferably, the optical processing operations enabled by any of thefirst and the second inter-configurations may be used for variousapplications. For example, the optical processing operations enabled bythe first and the second inter-configurations may be optical processingoperations intended for performance in a communication switch (notshown) to regenerate optical signals arriving at the communicationswitch. In such a case, the first output signal may, for example, be aregeneration of a downstream optical signal and the second output signalmay, for example, be a regeneration of an upstream optical signal. Theupstream optical signal may, for example, arrive to the optical gatematrix 10 via an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) (not shown) and thefirst output signal may be routed to a destination (not shown) via theAWG. It is appreciated that the AWG, as well as the optical gate matrix10, may form part of the communication switch.

In the first example, the first subset 60 includes nonlinear elementsarranged in a slant row of the parallelogram 40. The slant rowcomprising SOA7, SOA8 and SOA9 forms a border zone separating the firstinter-configuration of the second subset 70 including SOA1, . . . , SOA6from the second inter-configuration of the second subset 70 includingSOA10, . . . , SOA15. However, the nonlinear elements in the firstsubset 60 need not necessarily be arranged in a row, and otherarrangements may alternatively be used.

In a second example, SOA3, SOA5, SOA14 and SOA15 are preferably selectedfor inclusion in the first subset 60 and SOA1, SOA2, SOA4, SOA6, . . . ,SOA1 and SOA13 are preferably selected for inclusion in the secondsubset 70. It is noted that in general the first subset 60 and thesecond subset 70 need not necessarily together include all the nonlinearelements of the parallelogram 40 and in particular in the second exampleSOA12 may remain unassigned.

Preferably, SOA3, SOA5, SOA14 and SOA15 are configured to function asON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state, for example by not applying a biasvoltage to SOA3, SOA5, SOA14 and SOA15. Then, SOA1, SOA2, SOA4 and SOA6may preferably be configured in a third inter-configuration and SOA7, .. . , SOA11 and SOA13 may preferably be configured in a fourthinter-configuration.

In the third inter-configuration SOA1 and SOA2 may, for example, beconfigured in a cross-phase modulated (XPM) configuration as describedin the above mentioned article entitled “All-optical converters promiseimproved networks”, by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, April 2001,pages 159-164 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference. Preferably, if the XPM configuration is an MI configurationthat requires additional elements as described in this article by JeffHecht, the additional elements, such as an optical circulator, a filter,and a CW signal source (all three not shown), may preferably be externalto the optical gate matrix 10 and in operative association with theoptical gate matrix 10, for example via SOA6 or a filter 100 associatedwith SOA6. The XPM configuration implemented through the MIconfiguration may, for example, be used as a XOR gate as described inthe article “Semiconductor Optical Amplifier-Based All-Optical Gates forHigh-Speed Optical Processing”, by Kristian E. Stubkjaer in IEEE Journalon Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 6, No. 6,November/December 2000, pages 1428-1435 that is mentioned above andwhose disclosure is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

It is appreciated that SOA1 and SOA2 may be used in the MI configurationif they include reflective facets as is well known in the art. If SOA1and SOA2 do not include reflective facets, external reflective elements(not shown) must be associated with SOA1 and SOA2 to complete the MIconfiguration.

Further in the third inter-configuration, SOA4 and SOA6 may beconfigured in the “ON” state to function simply as pass-through elementsor as optical amplifiers.

In the fourth inter-configuration SOA7, . . . , SOA11 and SOA13 may beconfigured, for example, in an MzI interferometric configuration forall-optical 2R or 3R regeneration as described above with reference tothe first example.

Preferably, configuring, in the second example, SOA3 and SOA5 tofunction as ON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state is used, as in the firstexample, to prevent interference between inter-configurations of thesecond subset 70. However, SOA14 and SOA15 are preferably configured inthe “OFF” state to prevent interference with the fourthinter-configuration only.

In each of the first and second examples mentioned above, the subset 70in the parallelogram 40 includes, by way of example, only two separateconfigurations for optical processing operations but this number is notto be considered as limiting. Rather, the subset 70 in the parallelogram40 may be configured in more than two separate configurations foroptical processing operations. Additionally, more configurations foroptical processing operations may be obtained by increasing the numberof nonlinear elements in the parallelogram 40.

In FIG. 1, the optical gate matrix 10 is shown, by way of example, toinclude only two parallelograms, that is the parallelograms 40 and 50,and the parallelograms 40 and 50 are shown, by way of example, to have asimilar number of nonlinear elements. It is however appreciated that theoptical gate matrix 10 may alternatively include one parallelogram ormore than two parallelograms. In any case in which the optical gatematrix 10 includes more than one parallelogram, the number of nonlinearelements in the parallelograms may be identical or different.

As the number of nonlinear elements in the optical gate matrix 10increases, regardless of the number and/or size of the parallelogramsdefined in the optical gate matrix 10, more optical processingoperations may, in principle, be performed by the optical gate matrix10. An actual number of optical processing operations that may beperformed by the optical gate matrix 10 will however also depend, interalia, on the type of configurations selected for the optical processingoperations.

It is appreciated that inter-configurations of the second subset 70 maybe used in a cascaded form to perform more than one optical processingoperation on an inputted optical signal. In such a case, an outputsignal resulting from one optical processing operation performed on theinputted optical signal may undergo another optical processingoperation.

Reference is now additionally made to FIG. 2 which is a simplifiedpartly pictorial partly block diagram illustration of a preferredimplementation of a photonic device 200, the photonic device 200 beingconstructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. It is appreciated that the photonic device 200may be a stand-alone device that performs integrated operations orimplemented and used in the optical gate matrix 10, for example inconfigurations of the optical gate matrix 10. When implemented and usedin configurations of the optical gate matrix 10, the photonic device 200is preferably implemented in inter-configurations of the second subset70 and used to enable performance of integrated operations.

The photonic device 200 preferably includes a first nonlinear element210 and a set of nonlinear elements 220 including a second nonlinearelement 230. Preferably, the set of nonlinear elements 220 does notinclude the first nonlinear element 210 but it may include othernonlinear elements in addition to the second nonlinear element 230, suchas a nonlinear element 240. By way of example, which is not to beconsidered as limiting, all the nonlinear elements in the photonicdevice 200 comprise nonlinear elements based on SOAs.

Preferably, the set of nonlinear elements 220 is configured in anoptical processing configuration. By way of example, in FIG. 2 theoptical processing configuration in which the set of nonlinear elements220 is configured is an MZI interferometric configuration for wavelengthconversion, but it is appreciated that other optical processingconfigurations may alternatively be used as mentioned above withreference to FIG. 1.

The photonic device 200 may also preferably include a laser diode (LD)250 or an interface to an external LD (not shown), optical filters 260and 270, and interfaces (not shown) to a controller and driver 280. Thecontroller and driver 280 may, for example, be external to the photonicdevice 200 or integrated with the photonic device 200. The LD 250 ispreferably interconnected, for example through waveguides 281 and 282,to the second nonlinear element 230 and the nonlinear element 240respectively. The filter 270 is also preferably interconnected to thesecond nonlinear element 230 and the nonlinear element 240, for examplethrough waveguides 283 and 284 respectively. The filter 260 ispreferably interconnected, for example through waveguides 285 and 286,to the first nonlinear element 210 and the second nonlinear element 230respectively.

Preferably, the photonic device 200 may be used to enable performance ofintegrated operations. For example, in a stand-alone implementation thephotonic device 200 may be used to perform integrated operations whenemployed as a set of retransmission (or “rebound”) elements (SORE) in anoptical retransmission unit (ORU) of an all-optical memory or buffer asdescribed in the above-mentioned U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/152,289 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

The all-optical memory or buffer described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/152,289 uses cyclical transmission of an optical signalbetween at least two ends of an optical medium so that each transmissionof the optical signal in a direction via the optical medium is carriedout over a wavelength resource which is different from a wavelengthresource used in a preceding transmission of the optical signal in adirection via the optical medium. After, for example, many cyclicaltransmissions of the optical signal, a delayed replica of the opticalsignal is outputted from the all-optical memory or buffer. To enableoperation of the all-optical memory or buffer as mentioned above, thephotonic device 200 operating as a SORE may, for example, be required toperform the following operations: wavelength conversion, in a case wherethe wavelength resource is a wavelength; switching to output the delayedreplica of the optical signal; and amplification of the optical signal(optional).

The switching to output the delayed replica of the optical signal mayrequire detection of a portion of a guard period as discussed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/152,289. The detection of the portion ofthe guard period is needed to determine when switching is to be carriedout. The portion of the guard period may be detected by an externaloptical receiver 290 or alternatively by a nonlinear element detector(not shown) connected in series with the filter 260 and placed betweenthe filter 260 and the nonlinear elements 210 and 230. Another operationthat may be required in the all-optical memory or buffer described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/152,289 is dispersion compensation.

In operation as a SORE, the photonic device 200 preferably performsintegrated operations by performing at least some of the operationsmentioned above simultaneously or at different times as necessary. Forexample, the photonic device 200 may preferably selectively perform anoptical processing operation such as wavelength conversion and aswitching operation on an input optical signal inputted, for example atan input port 300 of the photonic device 200. In such a case, thephotonic device 200 is preferably controlled to enable performance ofthe optical processing operation on the input optical signal by the setof nonlinear elements 220 to output an optical processing result to afirst output route when the second nonlinear element 230 is turned to an“ON” state and the first nonlinear element 210 is turned to an “OFF”state, and to switch the input optical signal to a second output routeby turning the first nonlinear element 210 to an “ON” state when thesecond nonlinear element 230 is turned to an “OFF” state.

The first output route and the second output route may preferably bespatially and/or directionally separated. The first route may, forexample, be provided via a first output port 310 of the photonic device200 and the second route may, for example, be provided via a secondoutput port 320 of the photonic device 200.

Referring now to a specific example, which is not to be considered aslimiting, of operation of the photonic device 200 as a SORE, the opticalmedium may include a fiber optic cable and the input optical signal may,in an arbitrary transmission cycle via the fiber optic cable, arrive viathe fiber optic cable to the input port 300 over a wavelength λ₁. It isappreciated that the optical medium is not limited to fiber opticcables, and any other suitable optical medium may alternatively oradditionally be used as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/152,289, including, for example, a medium that is capable of slowinglight.

Preferably, the filter 260 passes only optical signals carried over λ₁,and thus the filter 260 preferably passes the input optical signal overλ₁ to both the first nonlinear element 210 and the second nonlinearelement 230 via the waveguides 285 and 286 respectively.

When the controller and driver 280 enables performance of the opticalprocessing operation, the controller and driver 280 preferably turns thefirst nonlinear element 210 to the “OFF” state and the second nonlinearelement 230 to the “ON” state. In such a case, the first nonlinearelement 210 blocks the input optical signal, and the second nonlinearelement 230 passes the input optical signal.

Preferably, the controller and driver 280 also drives the LD 250 whichfeeds a CW signal at a wavelength λ2 to the set of nonlinear elements220. The set of nonlinear elements 220 is therefore enabled as an XPMconverter to perform the optical processing operation as described, forexample in the above mentioned article entitled “All-optical converterspromise improved networks”, by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, April2001, pages 159-164 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

The optical processing operation performed by the XPM converter is, forexample, wavelength conversion and it provides an optical processingresult comprising a replica of the input optical signal that is carriedover λ₂. The replica of the input optical signal carried over λ₂ ispreferably directed to the filter 270 that preferably passes onlyoptical signals carried over λ₂. The filter 270 therefore passes thereplica of the input optical signal over λ₂ to the fiber optic cable viathe first output port 310. It is appreciated that the input port 300 andthe first output port 310 are typically operatively associated with thesame fiber optic cable for optical reception and optical transmissionrespectively via a multiplexer/demultiplexer (not shown) as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/152,289.

It is thus noted that when the controller and driver 280 enablesperformance of the optical processing operation, the photonic device 200converts the input optical signal received over λ₁ to a replica of theinput optical signal that is carried over λ₂ and retransmits the replicaof the input optical signal over λ₂ via the fiber optic cable.

It is appreciated that conversion of the input optical signal receivedover λ₁ to the replica carried over λ₂ also typically involvesamplification. Thus, the replica of the input optical signal has thesame pattern as the input optical signal but it may be amplified withrespect to the input optical signal. In cases where amplification is notrequired, or rather attenuation is required, the input optical signalmay, for example, be attenuated in a variable optical attenuator (VOA)(not shown) prior to input to the photonic device 200.

After a delay time period within which typically a plurality oftransmission cycles are carried out to provide a delayed input opticalsignal, retransmission of the delayed input optical signal via the firstoutput port 310 must be stopped as described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/152,289. The delayed input optical signal may then beoutputted via the second output port 320. The controller and driver 280may preferably stop the retransmission of the delayed input opticalsignal and switch the delayed input optical signal to the second outputport 320 by turning the first nonlinear element 210 to the “ON” stateand the second nonlinear element 230 to the “OFF” state. The firstnonlinear element 210 then passes the delayed input optical signal andthe second nonlinear element 230 blocks the delayed input opticalsignal. Preferably, the controller and driver 280 also interruptsdriving of the LD 250 when the first nonlinear element 210 is turned tothe “ON” state and the second nonlinear element 230 is turned to the“OFF” state. It is appreciated that the first nonlinear element 210 mayalso amplify the delayed input optical signal on passage to the secondoutput port 320.

It is thus noted that in its operation as a SORE the photonic device 200may perform the operations of wavelength conversion, switching andamplifying in an integrated form.

Preferably, the photonic device 200 may also operate as a SORE toperform the operations of wavelength conversion, switching andamplifying in an integrated form when the set of nonlinear elements 220is configured in an MI interferometric configuration for wavelengthconversion rather than an MZI configuration. Appropriate MIinterferometric configurations for wavelength conversion are describedin the above mentioned article entitled “All-optical converters promiseimproved networks”, by Jeff Hecht in Laser Focus World, April 2001,pages 159-164, and in the above mentioned article entitled“Semiconductor Optical Amplifier-Based All-Optical Gates for High-SpeedOptical Processing”, by Kristian E. Stubkjaer in IEEE Journal onSelected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 6, No. 6, November/December2000, pages 1428-1435 the disclosures of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

The MI interferometric configuration may, for example, be enabled in thephotonic device 200 by using nonlinear elements having reflective facetsfor the nonlinear elements 230 and 240, inserting an optical circulator(not shown) after the LD 250 so that the CW signal at 2 is fed throughthe optical circulator, and connecting a port of the optical circulatorto the filter 270. It is appreciated that if the optical circulatorcannot be integrated in the photonic device 200, the LD 250 and theoptical circulator may be external to the photonic device 200.

Implementation of the photonic device 200 in the optical gate matrix 10may, for example, be performed by implementing the nonlinear elements210, 230 and 240 in SOA4, SOA5 and SOA8 respectively, turning SOA1 andSOA6 to the “OFF” state, turning SOA2, SOA3 and SOA7 to the “ON” state,and coupling a filter 100 to SOA2. In such an implementation, SOA2 may,for example, also amplify the input optical signal and may additionallyreplace the optical receiver 290 for detecting the portion of the guardperiod to determine when switching is to be carried out via SOA4.

Additionally, SOA3 may, for example, be pumped by two pump waves (notshown) on retransmission of the input optical signal to enabledispersion compensation as is well known in the art. It is thereforenoted that in the implementation of the photonic device 200 in theoptical gate matrix 10 performance of more operations is enabled than inthe stand-alone implementation of the photonic device 200.

It is appreciated that driving functionality of the controller anddriver 280 typically depends on implementations of the photonic device200 and on configurations used in the optical gate matrix 10. Thedriving functionality preferably includes application or interruption,as necessary, of at least one of the following to any nonlinear elementin the photonic device 200: a bias signal; a CW signal; and a clocksignal.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which is a simplified block diagramillustration of a preferred implementation of a memory unit 400, thememory unit 400 being constructed and operative in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. The memory unit 400 maypreferably be used for storing optical information. It is appreciatedthat the memory unit 400 may, by way of example which is not to beconsidered as limiting, be usable with the optical gate matrix 10 ofFIG. 1 and the photonic device 200 of FIG. 2.

Preferably, the memory unit 400 includes an information storage element410 and an all-optical flash memory device 420. The information storageelement 410 preferably includes at least one of the following storagemedia: a magnetic memory media; an electronic memory media; amagneto-optic memory media; a ferroelectric memory media; amagnetoresistive memory media; an Ovonic Unified Memory (OUM) media; acompact-disc (CD) media; and a digital versatile disc (DVD) media.

The memory unit 400 may also preferably include an electronic interface430 that is operatively associated with the information storage element410 and the all-optical flash memory device 420, and an opticalinterface 440 that is operatively associated with the electronicinterface 430 and the all-optical flash memory device 420. The opticalinterface 440 preferably includes an optical transceiver (transmitterand receiver) 450 and, in a case where the optical transmitter in theoptical transceiver 450 is not directly driven, an external modulator460 for modulating an output of the optical transmitter.

The electronic interface 430 preferably includes a controller 470 and adriver 480 that is operatively controlled by the controller 470. Thedriver 480 is preferably operative to drive the optical transmitter inthe optical transceiver 450.

The controller 470 is preferably operative to determine whether theoptical information is to be stored for a time period exceeding athreshold or for a time period not exceeding the threshold. Thecontroller 470 may further preferably be operative to control storage inand retrieval from the information storage element 410.

The all-optical flash memory device 420 is preferably operative toperform all-optical flash storage of the optical information for thetime period not exceeding the threshold.

If the optical information is to be stored for the time period exceedingthe threshold, the information storage element 410 preferably receivesthe optical information from the all-optical flash memory device 420,and stores a representation of the optical information in a formsuitable for storage in the information storage element 410 for anadditional time period to reach the time period exceeding the threshold.It is appreciated that the optical interface 440 may preferably becapable of converting the optical information into the form suitable forstorage in the information storage element 410 and vice versa.

The all-optical flash memory device 420 may, for example, be anall-optical buffer or an optical memory cell (OMC) of an all-opticalmemory that is capable of storing an entire optical signal that includesa plurality of bits as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/152,289. In such a case, the all-optical flash memory device 420 mayuse the photonic device 200 of FIG. 2, or an implementation of thephotonic device 200 in the optical gate matrix 10 of FIG. 1, for eachORU of the all-optical buffer or the OMC of the all-optical memory.Fiber optic cables (not shown) interconnecting ORUs may, for example, beused as an optical medium via which multiple cyclical transmissions ofan optical signal to be stored are carried out. It is appreciated thatother types of optical medium may be used, instead of or in addition tothe fiber optic cables, such as a medium that is capable of slowinglight as mentioned in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/152,289.

The term “optical memory cell” is used throughout the specification andclaims in a broad sense to include a device or element that is capableof all-optical storage of an optical signal and of controlling when tooutput the optical signal for retrieval. The optical memory cell mayform part of an all-optical memory or may include an entire all-opticalmemory. The optical memory cell may store an optical signal or anoptical packet including one or more bits.

In a case where the photonic device 200 of FIG. 2 is used in theall-optical flash memory device 420, the controller and driver 280 ofFIG. 2 may be embodied in or associated with the all-optical flashmemory device 420 and used as a memory controller to control storage inand retrieval from the all-optical flash memory device 420.

The information storage element 410 is typically suitable for longstorage periods but it typically has a relatively long access time andstorage of the optical information in it requires conversion of theoptical information into the form suitable for storage in theinformation storage element 410. The all-optical flash memory device420, however, has a typically short access time and it can performall-optical storage of the optical information but it is typicallysuitable for only short storage periods. Therefore, if the opticalinformation must be stored for the time period not exceeding thethreshold, it can be stored only in the all-optical flash memory device420. However, if the optical information must be stored for the timeperiod exceeding the threshold, storage in the information storageelement 410 must be used in addition to storage in the all-optical flashmemory device 420. The threshold is preferably used as a measure of amaximum or optimum storage time attainable in the all-optical flashmemory device 420 beyond which storage in the information storageelement 410 is required.

The memory unit 400 may therefore be useful, for example, inapplications in which an optical signal must be stored for a relativelylong time period and then retrieved and prepared for an operation thatrequires fast access.

One such application may be an optical switching application in whichthe optical signal includes, for example, an optical packet that must bedelayed for a relatively long time period, such as 5 seconds, and thenplaced, for example, in a 100 nanosecond (nSec) long transmission queuefor optical transmission to an optical network element (not shown). Thethreshold may be, for example, 10 microsecond (μSec).

Since the optical packet must be delayed for more than 10 μSec, theoptical packet is preferably converted to a form suitable for storage inthe information storage element 410, such an electronic form, therebyproviding an electronic representation of the optical packet. Theelectronic representation of the optical packet is then preferablystored in the information storage element 410 to reach a total storagetime of 5 seconds. It is appreciated that the controller 470 may evencontrol the all-optical flash memory device 420 to provide the opticalpacket to the information storage element 410 with minimum delay in theall-optical flash memory device 420 thereby freeing the all-opticalflash memory device 420 to accept other optical packets.

After the total storage time of 5 seconds, the electronic representationof the optical packet is preferably retrieved from the informationstorage element 410 and converted by the optical interface 440 to apattern replica of the optical packet. The pattern replica of theoptical packet is then preferably stored in the all-optical flash memorydevice 420 for 100 nSec or less until it can be placed in thetransmission queue for optical transmission to the optical networkelement. It is appreciated that before placement in the transmissionqueue, the pattern replica of the optical packet may even undergo in theall-optical flash memory device 420 an optical processing operation,such as wavelength conversion.

The operation of the memory unit 400 is now briefly described. In afirst operation mode, information generated, for example by anapplication, may be stored in an electronic form in the informationstorage element 410. After an appropriate storage time, the controller470 may preferably retrieve the electronic information from theinformation storage element 410 and actuate the driver 480 to drive theoptical transmitter in the optical transceiver 450 for generating anoptical representation of the electronic information. The opticalrepresentation of the electronic information may then preferably be fedto the all-optical flash memory device 420 that performs flash storageof the optical representation of the electronic information inpreparation for, for example, placing the optical representation of theelectronic information in a queue for optical transmission. The queuefor optical transmission may be provided, for example, by conventionaltransmission equipment (not shown) that may be associated with thememory unit 400.

In a second operation mode, an input optical signal that, for example,must be delayed before switching to a destination may preferably beprovided to the all-optical flash memory device 420 for flash storage.If the input optical signal must be delayed for a time period notexceeding the threshold, the input optical signal is preferablyoutputted after the flash storage in the all-optical flash memory device420. If the input optical signal must be delayed for a time periodexceeding the threshold, the input optical signal is preferably furtherprovided to the information storage element 410 for storage for anadditional time period to reach the time period exceeding the threshold.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4 which is a simplified partly pictorialpartly block diagram illustration of a preferred implementation of anall-optical memory device 500 usable in the memory unit 400 of FIG. 3,the all-optical memory device 500 being constructed and operative inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Theall-optical memory device 500 is preferably useful for storing andretrieving an optical signal representing optical information and may,for example, replace the all-optical flash memory device 420 of FIG. 3.It is appreciated that the optical signal typically includes amultiplicity of bits with a bit-time being indicated as “BT”.

Preferably, the all-optical memory device 500 includes an opticalcompactor 510 and an OMC 520. The optical compactor 510 is preferablyoperative to optically compact the optical signal thereby providing acompacted optical signal. The OMC 520 is preferably operativelyassociated with the optical compactor 510 and is operative to store thecompacted optical signal for a period of time. The OMC 520 may, forexample, include an OMC as described in the above-mentioned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/152,289 that uses wavelength conversion togetherwith cyclical transmission of the compacted optical signal.

The optical compactor 510 preferably includes the following elements: afirst coupler/decoupler 530; NF optical gates 540, where NF is aninteger greater than one; and a second coupler/decoupler 550. Theoptical compactor 510 may also preferably include, or be associatedwith, an optical amplifier 560.

The first coupler/decoupler 530 is preferably operative to receive theoptical signal and to split the optical signal for outputting NF patternreplicas of the optical signal. The NF optical gates 540 are preferablyoperatively associated with the first coupler/decoupler 530, and each ofthe NF optical gates 540 preferably receives a respective one of the NFpattern replicas of the optical signal. Each of the NF optical gates 540is preferably time-delay controlled (TDC) to output chopped bits of therespective one of the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal at adifferent time window.

The second coupler/decoupler 550 is preferably operatively associatedwith the NF optical gates 540 and the OMC 520. Preferably, the secondcoupler/decoupler 550 is operative to combine the chopped bitscorresponding to the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal therebyforming the compacted optical signal representing the optical signal ina compacted form. The second coupler/decoupler 550 then preferablyprovides the compacted optical signal to the OMC 520.

Each of the NF optical gates 540 may, for example, include six SOAs (notshown) and an output filter (not shown) arranged in an MzI gatearrangement that is operated in a differential operation mode to createshort-switching windows. Such an MZI gate arrangement is described, forexample, in the above-mentioned article “Semiconductor OpticalAmplifier-Based All-Optical Gates for High-Speed Optical Processing”, byKristian E. Stubkjaer in IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in QuantumElectronics, Vol. 6, No. 6, November/December 2000, pages 1428-1435, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. MZI gatearrangements suitable for one or more of the NF optical gates 540 may,for example, be implemented in the optical gate matrix 10 of FIG. 1.

It is appreciated that there various ways in which the NF optical gates540 may be time-delay controlled. For example, the NF optical gates 540may be time-delay controlled by creating time shifts with an incrementof BT between outputs of the NF optical gates 540. Alternatively, timeshifts with a BT increment may be created between the NF patternreplicas of the optical signal on input to the NF optical gates 540. InMzI gate arrangements of the NF optical gates 540, the time shiftsbetween the outputs of the NF optical gates 540 may be created, forexample, by phase-shift operating the corresponding output SOAs, and thetime shifts between the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal may becreated, for example, by phase-shift operating the corresponding SOAs ofthe MZI signal input arms.

It is appreciated that the NF optical gates 540 may alternatively betime-delay controlled with a zero delay time in a case where opticalpaths of different lengths (not shown) are selected and used on input toor output of the NF optical gates 540 to create optical delays with a BTincrement.

The all-optical memory device 500 may also preferably include an opticalexpander operatively associated with the OMC 520 and operative to expandthe compacted optical signal on retrieval from the OMC 520 therebyrestoring the optical signal. The optical expander may, for example, bethe optical compactor 510 operating inversely to expand the compactedoptical signal on retrieval from the OMC 520. Alternatively, the opticalexpander may be a separate unit similar in structure to the opticalcompactor 510 and operating inversely to the optical compactor 510 toexpand the compacted optical signal on retrieval from the OMC 520 byusing, for example, pulse duplicators (not shown) in association with NFoptical gates (not shown) corresponding to the NF optical gates 540.

In operation, an optical signal, for example an optical packet providedat a bit-rate of 2.5 gigabit per second (Gb/s) with bit-time BT, issplit by the first coupler/decoupler 530 into, for example, four patternreplicas (NF=4) of the optical packet. Each of the four pattern replicasof the optical packet is preferably fed to a corresponding TDC gate 540that preferably outputs to the second coupler/decoupler 550 chopped bitsof the corresponding one of the four pattern replicas of the opticalpacket at a different time window. Each different time window is, forexample, 0.25BT in size and BT shifted with respect to a time windowcreated by a nearest neighbor TDC gate 540.

The second coupler/decoupler 550 preferably combines the chopped bitscorresponding to the four pattern replicas of the optical packet therebyforming a compacted optical packet at a bit-rate of 10 Gb/s. The secondcoupler/decoupler 550 then preferably provides the compacted opticalpacket at 10 Gb/s to the optical amplifier 560 that preferably amplifiesthe compacted optical packet before storage in the OMC 520.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which is a simplified block diagramillustration of another preferred implementation of an all-opticalmemory device 600 usable in the memory unit 400 of FIG. 3, theall-optical memory device 600 being constructed and operative inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Theall-optical memory device 600 is preferably useful for storing andretrieving LK optical signals that are respectively carried over LKseparate carrier wavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) where LK is an integergreater than one. It is appreciated that on input to the all-opticalmemory device 600, the LK separate carrier wavelengths λ₁, . . . ,λ_(LK) may be provided via spatially separated routes without timesynchronization between optical signals carried on different carrierwavelengths. For example, the LK separate carrier wavelengths λ₁, . . ., λ_(LK) may be wavelengths carried on separate fiber optic cables.

The all-optical memory device 600 may, for example, replace theall-optical flash memory device 420 of FIG. 3. It is appreciated thateach of the LK optical signals typically includes a multiplicity ofbits, and the LK optical signals may, for example, be provided atsubstantially similar data rates.

The all-optical memory device 600 preferably includes the followingelements: a first set of LK optical regeneration gates 610; a coupler620; and an OMC 630. It is appreciated that the OMC 630 may, forexample, include an OMC as described in the above-mentioned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/152,289 that uses wavelength conversion togetherwith cyclical transmission of an optical signal stored therein.

The all-optical memory device 600 may also preferably include a selector640 for selecting a wavelength λ_(OC) of an OC signal to be fed intoeach optical regeneration gate of the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates 610. The OC signal may, for example, be generated inthe selector 640 by a tunable laser source (TLS) 642 clocked by a clock644. The OC signal is then split by a coupler/decoupler 646 into LKpattern replicas of the OC signal for feeding into the first set of LKoptical regeneration gates 610. The TLS 642 and the clock 644 maypreferably be controlled, for example, by an external controller (notshown) that may preferably select a clock frequency of the clock 644 andtune the TLS 642 to generate the OC signal at λ_(OC).

Preferably, each optical regeneration gate in the first set of LKoptical regeneration gates 610 is operative to receive a respective oneof the LK optical signals and the OC signal at λ_(OC) or its patternreplica. Each optical regeneration gate in the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates 610 is also preferably time-delay controlled tooutput to the coupler 620 chopped bits of the respective one of the LKoptical signals over λ_(OC) at a different time window. The coupler 620preferably combines the chopped bits corresponding to the LK opticalsignals to form a compacted optical signal at λ_(OC) that represents acombination of the LK optical signals in a compacted form. The coupler620 then outputs the compacted optical signal to the OMC 630. The OMC630 preferably stores the compacted optical signal for a period of time.

Each optical regeneration gate in the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates 610 may, for example, include six SOAs (not shown)and an output filter (not shown) arranged in an MZI configuration forall-optical 3R regeneration as described, for example, in theabove-mentioned article “Semiconductor Optical Amplifier-BasedAll-Optical Gates for High-Speed Optical Processing”, by Kristian E.Stubkjaer in IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics,Vol. 6, No. 6, November/December 2000, pages 1428-1435, and in theabove-mentioned article entitled “40-Gb/s All-Optical WavelengthConversion, Regeneration, and Demultiplexing in an SOA-Based All-ActiveMach-Zehnder Interferometer”, by Wolfson et al in IEEE PhotonicsTechnology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2000, pages 332-334. Such MZIconfigurations for all-optical 3R regeneration may, for example, beimplemented in the optical gate matrix 10 of FIG. 1 for one or moreoptical regeneration gates 610.

It is appreciated that the optical regeneration gates in the first setof LK optical regeneration gates 610 may be time-delay controlled invarious ways, for example, as described above with reference to FIG. 4.

For retrieval from the OMC 630, the all-optical memory device 600 mayalso preferably include a decoupler 650 and a second set of LK opticalregeneration gates 660 that are operatively associated with thedecoupler 650. The decoupler 650 is preferably operatively associatedwith the OMC 630 and operative to decouple the compacted optical signal,upon retrieval from the OMC 630, into LK pattern replicas of thecompacted optical signal that are each carried over a wavelengthλ_(OUT). The LK optical regeneration gates in the second set of. LKoptical regeneration gates 660 are preferably operative to receive theLK pattern replicas of the compacted optical signal and LK optical-clocksignals carried over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) and to regenerate the LKoptical signals over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) using, for example, pulseduplicators (not shown) on output from the optical regeneration gates660. The LK optical-clock signals carried over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) may,for example, be generated by a set of external TLSs (not shown) that areclocked by external clocks (not shown).

Each optical regeneration gate in the second set of LK opticalregeneration gates 660 may, for example, include six SOAs (not shown)and an output filter (not shown) arranged in an MZI configuration forwavelength conversion and demultiplexing as described, for example, inthe above-mentioned article entitled “40-Gb/s All-Optical WavelengthConversion, Regeneration, and Demultiplexing in an SOA-Based All-ActiveMach-Zehnder Interferometer”, by Wolfson et al in IEEE PhotonicsTechnology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2000, pages 332-334. Such MZIconfigurations for wavelength conversion and demultiplexing may, forexample, be implemented in the optical gate matrix 10 of FIG. 1 for oneor more optical regeneration gates 660.

Preferably, but not necessarily, λ′₁=λ₁, . . . , λ′_(LK)=λ_(LK) andλ_(OUT)=λ_(OC). λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) may alternatively include at leastone wavelength which is not one of the wavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK).It is appreciated that even in a case where λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) and λ′₁,. . . , λ′_(LK) include the same wavelengths, the regenerated LK opticalsignals may be outputted either in a respective form in which eachoptical signal is outputted over the same wavelength over which it wascarried on input to the all-optical memory device 600, or in anon-respective form in which at least some optical signals may beoutputted over wavelengths other than wavelengths over which the atleast some optical signals were carried on input to the all-opticalmemory device 600.

It is appreciated that λ_(OUT) may, for example, be determined by amemory controller (not shown) of the OMC 630. In a case where the OMC630 includes an OMC as described in the above-mentioned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/152,289 that uses wavelength conversion togetherwith cyclical transmission of the compacted optical signal, adetermination of when to retrieve the compacted optical signal mayaffect determination of λ_(OUT).

In an alternative embodiment, the first set of LK optical regenerationgates 610 may also have the functionality of the second set of LKoptical regeneration gates 660, and the coupler 620 may also have thefunctionality of the decoupler 650. In such a case, the second set of LKoptical regeneration gates 660 and the decoupler 650 may be excluded,and the first set of LK optical regeneration gates 610 and the coupler620 may also appropriately operate in order to retrieve the compactedoptical signal from the OMC 630.

In operation, LK optical signals to be stored are preferably provided tothe first set of LK optical regeneration gates 610. In an exampledepicted in FIG. 5, LK=4, the LK optical signals are provided over λ₁, .. . , λ₄, each of the LK optical signals is provided at a data rate of2.5 Gb/s, and % λ_(OC)=λ₅, where λ₅ is different from any of λ₁, . . . ,λ₄. It is however appreciated that λ₅ may alternatively be any one ofλ₁, . . . , λ₄.

Preferably, each optical regeneration gate in the first set of LKoptical regeneration gates 610 receives a respective one of the fouroptical signals and an OC signal at λ₅ and outputs to the coupler 620chopped bits of the respective one of the four optical signals over λ₅at a different time window. The coupler 620 preferably combines thechopped bits corresponding to the four optical signals to form acompacted optical signal carried over λ₅ at 10 Gb/s. The coupler thenpreferably provides the compacted optical signal at 10 Gb/s to the OMC630 for storage therein for a period of time.

On retrieval from the OMC 630, the compacted optical signal at 10 Gb/sis decoupled by the decoupler 650 into four pattern replicas of thecompacted optical signal that are each carried over, for example,λ_(OUT)=λ₅. The second set of LK optical regeneration gates 660preferably receives the four pattern replicas of the compacted opticalsignal and regenerates the four optical signals at 2.5 Gb/s, for examplein a respective form over λ₁, . . . , λ₄.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a preferred method of operation of the optical gatematrix 10 of FIG. 1.

A configurable integrated optical gate matrix that includes a set ofnonlinear elements is preferably configured (step 700) by configuring afirst subset of the set of nonlinear elements to function as a set ofON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state to enable a second subset of the setof nonlinear elements to be configured in at least one opticalprocessing configuration. The second subset of the set of nonlinearelements may then preferably be configured in the at least one opticalprocessing configuration.

The at least one optical processing configuration may preferably includeat least one of the following configurations: a configuration forall-optical 2R regeneration; a configuration for all-optical 3Rregeneration; a configuration for wavelength conversion; a configurationfor data format conversion; a configuration for demultiplexing; aconfiguration for clock recovery; a configuration for a logic operation;and a configuration for dispersion compensation.

It is appreciated that at least one of the following may preferably beprogrammably selected: a number of nonlinear elements in the firstsubset; a number of nonlinear elements in the second subset; adistribution of the nonlinear elements in the first subset; and adistribution of the nonlinear elements in the second subset.Furthermore, the set of nonlinear elements may be arranged essentiallyin a parallelogram matrix or a plurality of parallelogram matrices. Thefirst subset may be configured to include nonlinear elements in a slantrow of a parallelogram, or nonlinear elements in a parallelogram rowseparating parallelogram rows including nonlinear elements in the secondsubset. It is appreciated that the second subset may, for example,include nonlinear element configurations outputting at least someoptical signals in essentially opposite directions.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a preferred method of operation of the photonic device200 of FIG. 2.

A first nonlinear element and a set of nonlinear elements comprising asecond nonlinear element and not comprising the first nonlinear elementare preferably provided (step 800). The set of nonlinear elements ispreferably configured (step 810) in an optical processing configuration.

An input optical signal may then preferably selectively undergo anoptical processing operation and a switching operation (step 820) byenabling performance of the optical processing operation on the inputoptical signal by the set of nonlinear elements for outputting anoptical processing result to a first output route when the secondnonlinear element is turned to an “ON” state and the first nonlinearelement is turned to an “OFF” state, and switching the input opticalsignal to a second output route by turning the first nonlinear elementto an “ON” state when the second nonlinear element is turned to an “OFF”state.

It is appreciated that the optical processing operation may preferablyinclude at least one of the following: all-optical 2R regeneration;all-optical 3R regeneration; wavelength conversion; data formatconversion; demultiplexing; clock recovery; a logic operation; anddispersion compensation. The first output route and the second outputroute may preferably be spatially and/or directionally separated.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a preferred method of operation of the memory unit 400of FIG. 3.

Preferably, a determination is provided (step 900) of whether opticalinformation intended for storage is to be stored for a time periodexceeding a threshold or for a time period not exceeding the threshold.The optical information then preferably undergoes all-optical flashstorage in an all-optical flash memory device for the time period notexceeding the threshold (step 910).

If the optical information is to be stored for the time period notexceeding the threshold, the optical information may preferably beretrieved (step 920) after termination of the all-optical flash storage.

If, however, the optical information is to be stored for the time periodexceeding the threshold, the optical information is preferably received(step 930) from the all-optical flash memory device, and arepresentation of the optical information is preferably stored (step940) in an information storage element in a form suitable for storage inthe information storage element for an additional time period to reachthe time period exceeding the threshold.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a preferred method of operation of the all-opticalmemory device 500 of FIG. 4.

Preferably, an optical signal representing optical information isoptically compacted (step 1000) to provide a compacted optical signal.The compacted optical signal is then preferably optically stored (step1010) for a period of time.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a preferred method of operation of the optical compactor510 in the all-optical memory device 500 of FIG. 4.

Preferably, an optical signal comprising a multiplicity of bits isreplicated (step 1100) to obtain NF pattern replicas of the opticalsignal, where NF is an integer greater than one. Then, chopped bits at adifferent time window are generated (step 1110) from each of the NFpattern replicas of the optical signal. The chopped bits correspondingto the NF pattern replicas of the optical signal are preferably combined(step 1120) to form a compacted optical signal representing the opticalsignal in a compacted form.

Reference is now made to FIG. 11 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a preferred method of operation of the all-opticalmemory device 600 of FIG. 5.

Preferably, chopped bits over a wavelength λ_(OC) at a different timewindow are generated (step 1200) from each of LK optical signals thatare respectively carried over LK separate carrier wavelengths λ₁, . . ., λ_(LK) and an OC signal at λ_(OC), where LK is an integer greater thanone and λ_(OC) of the OC signal is preferably pre-selected. The choppedbits corresponding to the LK optical signals are preferably combined(step 1210) to form a compacted optical signal representing acombination of the LK optical signals in a compacted form for storingthe compacted optical signal for a period of time.

It is appreciated that on retrieval, the compacted optical signal isdecoupled into LK pattern replicas of the compacted optical signal thatare each carried over a wavelength λ_(OUT), where λ_(OUT) may, forexample, be equal to λ_(OC). The LK optical signals may then beregenerated over LK separate wavelengths λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) from theLK pattern replicas of the compacted optical signal and LK optical-clocksignals carried over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK), where λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK)may, for example, be the same as λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK).

It is appreciated that various features of the invention which are, forclarity, described in the contexts of separate embodiments may also beprovided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures of the invention which are, for brevity, described in thecontext of a single embodiment may also be provided separately or in anysuitable subcombination.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the presentinvention is not limited by what has been particularly shown anddescribed hereinabove. Rather the scope of the invention is defined bythe claims that follow:

1. A memory unit for storing optical information, the memory unitcomprising: a controller operative to determine whether the opticalinformation is to be stored for a first time period exceeding athreshold or for a second time period not exceeding the threshold; anall-optical memory device operatively associated with the controller andoperative to perform all-optical storage of the optical information forthe first time period not exceeding the threshold; and an opticalinterface and an information storage element operatively associated withthe all-optical memory device, the optical interface operative toconvert the optical information into a form suitable for storage in theinformation storage element, and if the optical information is to bestored for the second time period exceeding the threshold, theinformation storage element operative to receive the optical informationfrom the all-optical memory device and to store the converted opticalinformation in the form suitable for storage in the information storageelement.
 2. The memory unit according to claim 1 wherein the informationstorage element comprises at least one of the following storage media: amagnetic memory media; an electronic memory media; a magneto-opticmemory media; a ferroelectric memory media; a magnetoresistive memorymedia; an Ovonic Unified Memory (OUM) media; a compact-disc (CD) media;a digital versatile disc (DVD) media or any combination thereof. 3.(canceled)
 4. The memory unit according to claim 1 wherein the opticalinterface comprises an optical transceiver and a driver operative tocontrol the optical transceiver.
 5. The memory unit according to claim 1wherein the threshold indicates one of the following: a maximum storagetime attainable in the all-optical memory device or an optimum storagetime attainable in the all-optical memory device.
 6. The memory unitaccording to claim 1 wherein the all-optical memory device is alsooperative to perform an optical processing operation on the opticalinformation upon retrieval from the all-optical memory device.
 7. Anall-optical memory device for storing an optical signal, the devicecomprising: an optical compactor operative to optically compact theoptical signal thereby providing a compacted optical signal; and anoptical memory cell (OMC) operatively associated with the opticalcompactor and operative to store the compacted optical signal for aperiod of time.
 8. The device according to claim 7 wherein the opticalsignal comprises a multiplicity of bits and the optical compactorcomprises: a first coupler/decoupler operative to receive the opticalsignal and to output NF pattern replicas of the optical signal, where NFis an integer greater than one; NF optical gates operatively associatedwith the first coupler/decoupler, each of the NF optical gates beingtime-delay controlled to output chopped bits of a respective one of theNF pattern replicas of the optical signal at a different time window;and a second coupler/decoupler operatively associated with the NFoptical gates and the OMC, the second coupler/decoupler operative tocombine the chopped bits corresponding to the NF pattern replicas of theoptical signal thereby forming the compacted optical signal, and toprovide the compacted optical signal to the OMC.
 9. The device accordingto claim 7 further comprising an optical expander operatively associatedwith the OMC and operative to expand the compacted optical signal onretrieval from the OMC thereby restoring the optical signal.
 10. Anoptical compactor for compacting an optical signal having a multiplicityof bits, the optical compactor comprising: a first coupler/decoupleroperative to receive the optical signal and to output NF patternreplicas of the optical signal, where NF is an integer greater than one;NF optical gates operatively associated with the firstcoupler/decoupler, each of the NF optical gates being time-delaycontrolled to output chopped bits of a respective one of the NF patternreplicas of the optical signal at a different time window; and a secondcoupler/decoupler operatively associated with the NF optical gates andoperative to combine the chopped bits corresponding to the NF patternreplicas of the optical signal thereby forming a compacted opticalsignal.
 11. An all-optical memory device for storage and retrieval of LKoptical signals respectively carried over LK separate carrierwavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) where LK is an integer greater than one,the device comprising: a first set of LK optical regeneration gates,each optical regeneration gate in the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates being operative to receive a respective one of the LKoptical signals and an optical-clock (OC) signal at a wavelength λ_(OC),and time-delay controlled to output chopped bits of the respective oneof the LK optical signals over λ_(OC) at a different time window; acoupler operatively associated with the first set of LK opticalregeneration gates and operative to combine the chopped bitscorresponding to the LK optical signals to form a compacted opticalsignal representing a combination of the LK optical signals in acompacted form; and an OMC operatively associated with the coupler andoperative to store the compacted optical signal for a period of time.12. The device according to claim 11 further comprising: a decoupleroperatively associated with the OMC and operative to decouple thecompacted optical signal, upon retrieval from the OMC, into LK patternreplicas of the compacted optical signal that are each carried over awavelength λ_(OUT); and a second set of LK optical regeneration gatesoperatively associated with the decoupler, the LK optical regenerationgates in the second set of LK optical regeneration gates being operativeto receive the LK pattern replicas of the compacted optical signal andLK optical-clock signals carried over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK) and toregenerate the LK optical signals over λ′₁, . . . , λ′_(LK).
 13. Thedevice according to claim 12 wherein λ′₁=λ₁, . . . , λ′_(LK)=λ_(LK) andλ_(OUT)=λ_(OC)
 14. The device according to claim 11 further comprising aselector for selecting the wavelength λ_(OC).
 15. The device accordingto claim 11 wherein the wavelength λ_(OC) comprises one of thefollowing: a wavelength different from any of the LK separate carrierwavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) or one of the LK separate carrierwavelengths λ₁, . . . , λ_(LK) or any combination thereof.
 16. Thememory unit according to claim 1 wherein the all-optical memory devicecomprises an all optical buffer or an optical memory cell of anall-optical memory.
 17. A configurable integrated optical gate matrixcomprising: a set of nonlinear elements in which a first subset of theset of nonlinear elements is configured to function as a set of ON/OFFswitches in the “OFF” state to enable a second subset of the set ofnonlinear elements to be configured in at least one optical processingconfiguration; and a plurality of waveguides interconnecting at leastsome nonlinear elements in the set of nonlinear elements.
 18. Theoptical gate matrix according to claim 17 wherein the at least oneoptical processing configuration comprises at least one of the followingconfigurations: a configuration for all-optical 2R regeneration forre-amplifying and reshaping a data pulse; a configuration forall-optical 3R regeneration for re-amplifying, reshaping and re-timing adata pulse; a configuration for wavelength conversion; a configurationfor data format conversion; a configuration for demultiplexing; aconfiguration for clock recovery; a configuration for a logic operation;a configuration for dispersion compensation; or any combination thereof.19. The optical gate matrix according to claim 17 wherein the at leastone optical processing configuration is implemented by at least one ofthe following configurations: at least one interferometricconfiguration; at least one configuration that enables cross gainmodulation; at least one configuration that enables four-wave mixing; orany combination thereof.
 20. The optical gate matrix according to claim17 wherein the set of nonlinear elements is arranged essentially in aparallelogram matrix or a plurality of parallelogram matrices.
 21. Theoptical gate matrix according to claim 17 wherein said second subset ofsaid set of nonlinear elements comprises a first nonlinear elementinter-configuration outputting a first output signal in a firstdirection, and a second nonlinear element inter-configuration outputtinga second output signal in a second direction, the second direction beingessentially opposite to the first direction.
 22. A configurableintegrated optical gate matrix comprising: a set of nonlinear elementsin which a first subset of the set of nonlinear elements is configuredto function as a set of ON/OFF switches in the “OFF” state to enable asecond subset of the set of nonlinear elements to be configured in atleast one optical processing configuration, the at least one opticalprocessing configuration comprising at least one of the followingconfigurations: a configuration for all-optical 2R regeneration forre-amplifying and reshaping a data pulse; a configuration forall-optical 3R regeneration for re-amplifying, reshaping and re-timing adata pulse; a configuration for wavelength conversion; a configurationfor data format conversion; a configuration for demultiplexing; aconfiguration for clock recovery; a configuration for a logic operation;a configuration for dispersion compensation; or any combination thereof.23. A configurable integrated optical gate matrix comprising: a set ofnonlinear elements in which a first subset of the set of nonlinearelements is configured to function as a set of ON/OFF switches in the“OFF” state to enable a second subset of the set of nonlinear elementsto be configured in at least one optical processing configuration, theat least one optical processing configuration being implemented by atleast one of the following configurations: at least one interferometricconfiguration; at least one configuration that enables cross gainmodulation; at least one configuration that enables four-wave mixing; orany combination thereof.
 24. A method for configuring a configurableintegrated optical gate matrix that comprises a set of nonlinearelements, the method comprising: configuring a first subset of the setof nonlinear elements to function as a set of ON/OFF switches in the“OFF” state; and enabling a second subset of the set of nonlinearelements to be configured in at least one optical processingconfiguration, the at least one optical processing configurationcomprising at least one of the following configurations: a configurationfor all-optical 2R regeneration for re-amplifying and reshaping a datapulse; a configuration for all-optical 3R regeneration forre-amplifying, reshaping and re-timing a data pulse; a configuration forwavelength conversion; a configuration for data format conversion; aconfiguration for demultiplexing; a configuration for clock recovery; aconfiguration for a logic operation; a configuration for dispersioncompensation or any combination thereof.
 25. The method according toclaim 24 further comprising configuring the second subset of the set ofnonlinear elements in the at least one optical processing configuration.26. The method according to claim 24 further comprising programmablyselecting at least one of the following: a number of nonlinear elementsin the first subset; a number of nonlinear elements in the secondsubset; a distribution of the nonlinear elements in the first subset; adistribution of the nonlinear elements in the second subset or anycombination thereof.
 27. The method according to claim 24 wherein theact of configuring the at least one optical processing configuration isimplemented by at least one of the following configurations: at leastone interferometric configuration; at least one configuration thatenables cross gain modulation; at least one configuration that enablesfour-wave mixing; or any combination thereof.
 28. A method forconfiguring a configurable integrated optical gate matrix that comprisesa set of nonlinear elements, the method comprising: configuring a firstsubset of the set of nonlinear elements to function as a set of ON/OFFswitches in the “OFF” state; and enabling a second subset of the set ofnonlinear elements to be configured in at least one optical processingconfiguration.
 29. The method according to claim 28 wherein the act ofconfiguring the first subset of the set of nonlinear elements includesconfiguring the first subset to include nonlinear elements in aparallelogram row.
 30. The method according to claim 28 wherein the actof configuring the first subset of the set of nonlinear elementsincludes configuring the first subset to include nonlinear elements in aslant row of a parallelogram.